Machine for making hat-brim wires.



A. BROWN. -IVIACHINE FOR MAKING HAT BRIM WIRES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I8, 1914- LQlfiAUQ. Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

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IIIII A. BROWN. r MACHINE FOR MAKING HAT BRIM WIRES.

APPLICATION FIL ED NOV .1B 194- LQJLGAOQ. Patented Feb.20,1917.

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1m mums pzrm: co mwm umu l J l'il ALFRED BROWN, 0]? DENTON, NEARMANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR MAKING HAT-BRIM WIRES.

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Application filed November 18, 1914:. Serial No. 872,786.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED BROWN, a subject of the King of Great Britainand Ireland, and resident of Denton, near Manchester, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Machinesfor Making Hat-Brim Wires and the like, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention refers to machines for making the wires used with thebrims of felt and silk hats for the purpose of preserving the correctshape of the brimsa At present, there are no means, other than the eye,whereby the operator may determine the correct position in which to fixthe wire relatively to the brim. In these circumstances the wire isoften wrongly fixed in the brim and as a result the brim quickly losesits correct shape and the hat has to be treated as a job hat and sold ata reduced price.

This invention has for its object a machine which will mark the wire atone, or two points and, preferably,' at the two points which should comeopposite the usual mold marks in the hat, so that by the aid of themarkings on the wire and those in the hat the operator may be able tounerringly fix the wire in its correct position.

In carrying out the invention, the marking of the wire is preferablyeffected simultaneously with the forming of the wire into the usual ovaland arched shape, that is to say, in the wire-shaping machine are twosmall emery wheels, which engage the wire and either lie in a planeparallel with the wire, or in a plane at right angles thereto. When inthe same plane as the wire they rotate at a speed equal to that of thewire as it is drawn through the machine by the usual devices. Said emerywheels are continuously rotated, so that on the wire pausing in theusual way while the wire is being cut off after each shaping operation,the said wheels remove a portion of the-metal or the usual blue coloringand thus leave what may be termed a mark in the length of the wire.

When the wheels lie in a plane at right angles to the wire one or bothof them will be held normally clear of the wire and only touch the wireeach time it is stopped-for cutting off purposes. The marking of thewire may occur at one point only or at two points in the length of thewire and in the case of two points such points when the wire is shapedto the required oval will lie diabrim.

Upon the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 illustrates a plan of the improved apparatus by which a brimwire is marked, the apparatus being arranged alongside the usual brimwire shaping machine.

Fig. 2 illustrates a cross sectional elevation of Fig. 1 (in part) online 06-00.

Fig. 3 illustrates a plan of the brim wire.

In practice it is found preferable to arrange the marking wheels a, 0;at right angles to the wire as shown and to hold the wheel a away fromthe wire while the wire is "being shaped into the usual oval form, andallow it to act upon the wire only when the cutting off operation istaking place. The wheels are carried upon spindles running throughblocks 6, o and receive rotary motion through bevel wheels 0, c, 0, 0.The block b is mounted upon a slide and the bevel wheels 0 0 are adaptedto slide with the block, the bevel wheel 0 being held in mesh with thewheel 0 by a plate d, and the wheel 0 being free to slide on the shaft 6while keyed to it.

The marking wheel a: is normally held clear of the wire by means of aneye bolt f, a chain 9, a lever h, and a cam z of the wireformingmachine, such cam only allowing the wheel a under the force of a springj acting between the stop 76 and block b to touch the wire once in eachrevolution which corresponds with the traverse of the wire for making acomplete brim wire, the feed of the wire being stopped as usual whilethe wire is cut off and such stoppage being made use of to allow thewheels a, a to mark the w1re.

With the machine altered to make brim wires of larger or smaller sizethe speed of the cam automatically determines the correct marking of thewire.

The Wheels a, a may be of emery (or emery covered), or they may be steeldisks, it being sufiicient to remove the usual blue coloring from thewire to afford the desired mark see Fig. 3.

Instead of the mark, or marks being formed by removing a portion of thesurface of the wire, the mark, or marks may be formed by portions of thewire being pinched or reduced in diameter or otherwise altered in shape,or the markings maybe produced by burnishing.

What I claim is V In a machine for making hat-brim wires and the like,in combination, two rotary eutter disks, a spindle for each disk, abearing block for each spindle, a stationary base plate upon which oneof said blocks is relatively fixed and the other of said blocks isslidably mounted at a slight distance apart and between which a wire tobe marked passes, shaft bearings on the said plate, and

1 a shaft supported in such bearings at right angles to thedisk-carrying spindles, a bevel wheel on each disk-carrying spindle,further bevel wheels, one of which is fast on and rotates with the saidshaft and meshes with the bevel wheel on the disk-carrying spindle ofthe fixed block, and the other of which bevel wheels is slidably keyedupon the said shaft and meshes with the bevel wheel on the disk-carryingspindle of the sliding block, a forked plate on the sliding blockengaging the slidable bevel wheel, a spring for moving the sliding blocktoward the fixed block, and means for moving and holding the slidingblock away from the fixed block and periodically releasing the slidingblock, and a spring for moving the slidable block when released towardthe fixed block to allow the disks to approach and mark the wires, asset forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

ALFRED BROWN.

Witnesses:

F. C. PENNINGTON, F. J. MEREDITH.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington; D. C.

